


The Hand That Rocks the Dipper

by Donteatacowman



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Body Horror, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 02:50:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10630602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donteatacowman/pseuds/Donteatacowman
Summary: The twins always had impeccable timing. They might not have twin-ESP but they did have a knack for arriving just in the nick of time to catch each other singing BABBA songs in the mirror or hanging upside-down from a rafter while experimenting with a grappling hook.But even people with good timing sometimes miss things. Sometimes a second is all it takes for a harmless misadventure to turn into a life-changing event.Sometimes, Mabel is too late.





	

The day was long since over and today’s battle won. Dipper slogged his shaking feet through dirt and leaves, pausing now and again to spit. His sister was half-dragging him forward. She was talking, but he wasn’t paying attention to what she said. Just the fact that she was  _ there _ was what mattered. Who knew what would have happened if she’d burst in too late--or what wouldn’t have happened if she’d found Dipper sooner. 

Nope. Nope, not gonna think about that. Not gonna get stuck on the what-ifs. Keep your head in the moment, Dipper. 

He saw that he was ruining Mabel’s latest sweater and swallowed guiltily. Averting his eyes from the bright crafting yarn, he focused on the town square. They must have only been walking about five minutes--they were blocks away from home. Dipper couldn’t decide if it felt like forever or if it felt like nothing. In this hazy pain, time itself didn’t exist.

But the Mystery Shack was in front of them soon enough. Dipper distantly heard his twin say something encouraging, maybe with pity interlaced in her tone, and felt a rough push forward. He stood on his own two feet easily enough. With a moment’s thought, he wincingly clapped his hands over his mouth. Better let Mabel break the news gently first. 

His sister knocked on the door, waiting for an answer that didn’t come. Mabel sighed impatiently. “Geez, what’s an old man like Grunkle Stan got going on tonight? He should be here!” But she rattled the doorknob until the door clicked open, a trick Soos had taught her the first week she came to Gravity Falls. 

She pushed the door open for Dipper, who gratefully stepped in, unsteady, then rushed to the bathroom.

“Oh. Ew,” Mabel said, shielding her eyes from the open bathroom door that displayed Dipper puking his guts out. 

It… was a long puke. 

“Um… Hey, it’s okay, Dipper, we’ll figure this out. There’s a lot of weird stuff in Gravity Falls, right? Maybe something in your journal talks about… how to grow extra body parts? That’s a sci-fi mystery thing...?”

More retching answered her, until Dipper realized his stomach had emptied. Still nauseous, he sat back against the tub while Mabel rolled some toilet paper up to hold up to his mouth. 

“Or,” Mabel added, “You could be the lucky Patient Zero of, da-da-da-da!--Nurse Mabel!” 

Dipper made a face and waved his hands. He desperately wanted to tell Mabel that she’d used the phrase “patient zero” so, so wrong. 

But Mabel was already getting hyped up, and if any of the cheer she was displaying was fake, Dipper couldn’t tell. She messed around with his superficial cuts and scrapes from running around earlier that night, eventually declaring him “practically healed already!” 

Dipper grimaced and, when she wasn’t looking, tried to dry-swallow a painkiller. It took him a couple of tries and ended with some choking. Mabel’s worried face at that betrayed how she really felt tonight.

In the end, they both needed rest. Dipper found a solution to the constant spitting: stuffing a bunch of cotton balls in his mouth. It hurt but at least he could keep from drooling everywhere. The twins uneasily went to bed, both sure to be kept up by nightmares of the night’s events--but their eyes were shut as soon as they hit the pillow. Their bodies needed rest. 

Rest that was denied them when a door slammed open and a hoarse voice bellowed “ _ WHAT THE HECK, KIDS?!”  _

Mabel sat up straight and rubbed the sand out of her eyes, bleary, while Dipper just groaned and pulled his pillow up over his ears. 

“Mornin’, Grunkle Stan,” Mabel said slowly and interrupted herself with a yawn.

“No, seriously, what’s the big idea? I’m about to strike gold on this merger idea with Bud, then his brat stamps in crying about getting ‘revenge’ on you two?” Grunkle Stan provided air quotes when necessary. “Did one of you beat him up? Cuz, I mean I’ve wanted to myself, don’t get me wrong--”

Mabel shook the sleep from her head, instantly tearing up. “Oh, Grunkle Stan! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know--I didn’t think he would--”

“The squirt did look pretty scruffy. All banged up and covered in pine needles. What’d you do, chuck him off a cliff into the forest?” Stan laughed. “Geez, okay, I see your point, I’d have done it too.” 

“No, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel’s hands made fists into her blanket. “I had to, he--he hurt Dipper!”

Any trace of disgruntled grunkle had disappeared at this point. “He did? Ugh. What’s the damage?” He stepped to Dipper’s bed and pulled away the blanket. Dipper made no attempt to move and, honestly, was still half-asleep.

“Eh… Looks like Gideon’s bark was worse than his bite, pumpkin. He’ll be fine,” Stan said after a quick check-up. No bruises, no cuts, no lumps. Maybe a skinned knee at worst. 

“No,  _ Stan _ ,” Mabel said again hopelessly. “His mouth, look at his mouth!” 

Stan looked quizzically at his niece, then shoved the pillow aside. 

Dipper, through the night, had spat out all the red little cotton balls before the blood started to crust over. As Stan pushed him, his head lolled to the side, opening his mouth as he snored softly like a chirruping kitten.

Stan’s eyes widened. He looked back to his niece--with his first instinct being to shield her eyes--but she only nodded sadly. 

What came out of Stan’s mouth was a visceral growl. “That  _ little-- _ ” 

Mabel only had just enough time to clamp her hands over her ears to block the bad words she knew she shouldn’t hear. 

Being roused to bellowing swears isn’t the most comfortable way to get up in the morning, Dipper observed as he rolled over and sat up in bed, yawning. Stan hadn’t noticed him up yet and he tried to say something.

Ow. Ow ow ow ow. 

Right.

….Right.

Dipper tried to wave his hands placatingly instead. Stan finally stopped the deluge of profanity and shut up altogether instead.

_ I’m okay _ , Dipper thought.  _ Don’t worry about me. It’s not hurting so much anymore, I’m okay. Better me than Mabel. _

But since he couldn’t talk, he just grinned instead, trying to ignore the taste of metal. 

At his family’s horrified expressions, his grin faded. 

There were a lot of weird phenomena the twins had already gotten used to since the start of the summer. How much different could it be, learning to live with no tongue?

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a horror idea I kept looking for and couldn't find--an alternate ending of The Hand That Rocks the Mabel, if Mabel had saved Dipper just a second too late. I want to see how this idea plays in future events in Gravity Falls, but I don't want to just go to episodes and delete all of Dipper's dialogue. For example, would Bill still want Dipper as a suitable puppet? Mindscape!Dipper could still probably talk (since his form is based off his self-perception, which at the time of Sock Opera wouldn't have changed); how would that effect the events of Sock Opera? What kind of weird mad doctor science would Dipper attempt while using the Journals as guides? Or, since these events would have affected Gideon's revenge plans, would Bill have even been introduced to the kids as an enemy in the first place? 
> 
> Lots of directions for this to go, but none I'm 100% committed to. Lemme know if you think it's better as a one-shot or if it should be continued!


End file.
